Next Year's Rent
by Cola-Flavoured-Sherbet
Summary: The New Directions and OCs come together to celebrate a very special occasion for one particular author.


A group of 3 people stood on the William McKinley High School auditorium stage, smiling at their audience. The first was a very small, pale girl with very bright cardinal red hair and dark brown eyes and was wearing a pink vest top with white denim shorts on and pink ankle high Converse. The second was a tanned boy with short black hair and light brown eyes. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt with loose dark blue jeans and black Vans. The last was a blonde boy, much taller than the other 2 and was wearing a light blue polo shirt and blue jeans with light blue Vans.

"Hey, everyone. We would like to thank everyone reading this because if you are, then you are reading the author and our creator's one year anniversary on as Cola-Flavoured-Sherbet created her profile on the 24th of January 2011 which is exactly one year ago today." the blonde boy said with the other two applauding.

"Now unfortunately she can't be here because she is busy working on and continuing her upcoming works such as 'Through Our Eyes', the season 3 canon story of Glee featuring us." He continued.

"The rollercoaster summer concert story: 'The Benefit Of The Doubt'." The tanned boy said.

"Her branch into the Victorious fandom, which we can now reveal the title as 'Sing Me A Love Song'." The redhead added on.

"And of course, the highly-anticipated epilogue of 'To The End Of The Earth' which concludes Abbey's and Santana's epic love story." The blonde boy then said before the redhead looked over to them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." she then said. The two boys looked to each other before the girl pulled out her cell phone.

"Jenn, who are you calling?" the smaller boy asked.

"I'm calling the boss. Who do you think, Hawthorne? I'm calling Santa Claus asking for a pair of Beats this year or I'm calling Bryan Adams to appear in his music video?" Jenn asked in reply.

"Don't tell Jack you said that, he'd kill you on the spot." Dylan quipped with a smirk.

"Oh shut up, Dylan." Jenn hit back and Dylan could only shrug his shoulders.

"Just take it outside, we don't want you giving away any future plot spoilers." The tanned boy then called out.

"Whatever, Alex." Jenn then said before walking behind the curtain on the right hand side of the stage. The two boys then turned back to their audience.

"We also have three special guests with us today. Two will be making an appearance at the end of this story and the other was supposed to be here but…" Alex then said before a skinny girl with auburn coloured hair wearing a black vest top, black leather jacket and white skinny jeans walked in.

"Sorry I'm late!" the girl called out.

"It's alright." Dylan said before turning to the audience.

"Speak of the devil. Ladies and gentleman, we give you Abigail Hawkins: star of 'To The End Of The Earth'." He said, raising a hand as he gestured Abbey to the hopefully not bored audience. But then Dylan realised something before turning to Alex.

"Dude, what chapter did you take her from?" the blonde boy asked.

"Man, I don't know. It definitely wasn't chapter 5 because she looks our age." The brown eyed boy replied.

"And maybe because it hasn't been published yet!" Dylan snarled back before Alex looked to Abbey.

"Hey, Abbey. What was the last major thing that happened to you?" Alex asked the redhead.

"When Santana came out in front of the school." Abbey replied.

"Chapter 3." The boys then said to each other before another female voice was heard.

"No, Cola. I don't care about my contract for Through My Eyes at the moment. You said…" Jenn said, coming out from behind the curtain to see another girl standing there.

"I'll call you back." Jenn then said before putting the phone down. Dylan rushed to step in between the two girls while Alex spoke.

"While we handle this situation, please enjoy this one off special to celebrate Cola's one year on . And what better way to celebrate it than to represent it with one of her favorite musicals that actually spans a timeline of one year." Alex said, smiling before looking back and help restrain the two girls from sheathing their claws as the camera switched to a clip that the club filmed for this occasion.

**0000000000**

"We begin on Christmas Eve with me, Mitchell, and my roommate, Dylan." Mitchell Mason, dressed in a maroon and sky blue sweater with a navy and white striped scarf around his neck and brown jeans, said before looking to his roommate Dylan Armstrong, dressed in a black tank top, burgundy plaid pants and a green fleece on. He also had a silver Fender Blacktop Jaguar in his lap as his ice blue eyes focused on the strings as he plucked and fiddled with the tuning pegs while he sat on a table in the middle of the apartment.

"We live in an industrial loft on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue B, the top floor of what was once a music publishing factory." Mitchell then said examining his surroundings before looking at many posters that lay on the back wall.

"Old rock 'n' roll posters hang on the walls. They have Dylan's picture advertising gigs

at CBGB's and the Pyramid Club." He then said before pointing to a stove.

"We have an illegal wood burning stove; its exhaust pipe crawls up to a skylight." He explained before looking to a chord beneath his feet.

"All of our electrical appliances are plugged into one thick extension cord which snakes its way out a window. Outside, a small tent city has sprung up in the lot next to our building. Inside, it's freezing because we have no heat." He finished before heading to a camera sat on top of a tripod, he turned to Dylan.

"Smile!" he said before pressing record.

"_December 24th,_" Mitchell looks to his watch. "_9pm._ _Eastern Standard Time._"

"_From here on in, I shoot without a script. See if anything comes of it, instead of my old shit._" Mitchell sung, mumbling the last bit before turning the camera to his blonde roommate._  
><em>"_First shot – Dylan. Tuning the Fender guitar he hasn't played in a year_." Mitchell then sung as both the brunette and the camera examined the blonde._  
><em>"This won't tune." Dylan explained. Mitchell looked back to the camera._  
><em>"So we hear._ He's just coming back from half a year of withdrawal_."

Dylan looked up at this._  
><em>"Are you talking to me?" he asked incredulously._  
><em>"_Not at all_." Mitchell sung in reply, raising an eyebrow to the camera before taking the camera off the tripod and pointing it at Dylan again._  
><em>"_Are you ready? Hold that focus – steady. Tell the folks at home what you're doing Dylan._" He sung, now a few steps away from Dylan who was still sat on the table._  
><em>"_I'm writing one great song-_" Dylan started but got cut off._  
><em>"The phone rings." Mitchell said._  
><em>"Saved!" Dylan deadpans with a grin, to which Mitchell gives the blonde a look before turning the camera as he sat down next to the songwriter._  
><em>"_We screen. Zoom in on the answering machine!_" Mitchell then sung before the answering machine went to Mitchell and Dylan's outgoing message.

**SPEAK!**

A beep was then heard before a voice came from the machine.

"_That was a very loud beep. I don't even know if this is working. Mitchell_,_ Mitch are you there? Are you screening your calls? It's Marvin._" Mitchell's uncle sang into the phone. Mitchell should've expected this. Marvin does call the house from time to time.

"_We wanted to call and say we love you and we'll miss you tomorrow. Michelle and the kids are here - send their love. Oh, I hope you like the hot plate - just don't leave it on Mitch, when you leave the house. Oh and Mitch, we're sorry to hear that Rachel dumped you. I say c'est la vie so let her be a lesbian._" Marvin then sung and Dylan smiled and patted Mitchell's shoulder at this while the filmmaker just put the palm of his right hand to his forehead and closing his eyes while his uncle finished the voicemail._  
><em>"_There are other fishies in the sea. Love Marv_."

Mitchell could only sigh before putting the camera back on Dylan.

"_Tell the folks at home what you're doing Dylan._" the brunette then sung.  
>"<em>I'm writing one great song-<em>" Dylan started but got cut off once again._  
><em>"The phone rings." Mitchell repeated.

"Yes!" Dylan whisper-yelled with relief while gently shaking a now clenched fist as Mitchell turned his camera back to the phone.  
>"<em>We screen<em>."

**SPEAK!**

"_Chestnuts roasting._" A familiar voice crooned, alerting the ears of both roommates.  
>"Blaine!" Mitchell called out, striding towards the phone.<br>"_I'm downstairs_." Blaine Anderson added on before Mitchell got to the phone.  
>"Hey!" he answered.<br>"Dylan picked up the phone?" their other roommate asked, quite shocked.  
>"No, it's me." Mitchell replied.<br>"_Throw down the key_." Blaine then said. Mitchell then pulled something from his pocket and went towards a window of his and Dylan's apartment. He looked and saw one Mr. Anderson in his usual brown trenchcoat looking up at the awkward boy.  
>"<em>A wild night is now preordained<em>." Mitchell sung as he gave the key his best throw before turning back into the apartment. Blaine then looked around the box before speaking into the phone.

"I may be detained." He then said and Mitchell furrowed his eyebrows before bangs were heard and the line went dead.

"What does he mean?" Mitchell asked Dylan who had now stopped playing to join Mitchell and he answered the cameraman's question by shrugging his shoulders. The phone rang again and the men sat down on the table as Mitchell answered again.

"What do you mean detained?" Mitchell asked again.  
>"Ho ho ho." was the reply they got. The blonde and brunette now looked nervous but they both answered.<p>

"Harmon!" they said cheerfully before covering the phone and whispering 'shit!' to each other.  
>"Imbeciles, I'm on my way." The owner of the building: Jonathan Harmon or Jack or Jack Ass then said into the phone. Mitchell and Dylan could practically feel the smirk on the boy's face.<p>

"Great!" they then said with that same cheerful tone but again, Mitchell covered the phone so he and Dylan could mutter an anxious 'fuck!'  
>"<em>I need the rent<em>."

This was worrying.  
>"What rent?" Mitchell asked in disbelief at what Jack said.<br>"Last year's rent which I let slide. 'Why' I don't know." Jack then said, rolling his eyes as the last bit rolled off of his tongue.  
>"Let slide? You said we were golden." Mitchell then said.<br>"_When you bought the building_." Dylan added on.  
>"<em>When we were roommates<em>." Mitchell finished the sentence before Dylan asked a question.  
>"Remember, you lived here?" he asked, hearing a very small laugh on the other end of the phone.<p>

"How could I forget: you, me, Anderson and Rachel. How is the drama queen?" Jack then asked. Mitchell knew where this was going.  
>"She's performing tonight." He said while trying to veer Jack away from the thing known to him as 'The Topic Of Doom'.<br>"I know. _Still her production manager?_" Jack asked. Mitchell inwardly sighs, thinking it might have worked.  
>"Two days ago, I was bumped." Mitchell answered.<br>"_You still dating her?_" Jack asked. It didn't work.  
>"Last month, I was dumped." The brunette begrudgingly answered. Dylan then grabbed the phone.<br>"_She's in love!_" he sung quickly, with a smirk on his face.

"She got a new man?" Jack asked, intrigued by this sudden piece of news.

"Well no…" Mitchell answered.

"What's his name?" Jack then asked. There was a small silence before an answer was heard: a smug one from Dylan and an annoyed one from Mitchell.

"Santana."

Jack just laughed at this before getting to his point.

"Rent my inferiors is due, or I will have to evict you." He said and both Mitchell and Dylan looked to each other in shock.

"Be there in a few." Jack said before the line blew out. Mitchell put the phone down before Dylan started playing a random medley on his guitar. And it sounded really good coming from his amp until it blew out. Dylan strummed his guitar in frustration while Mitchell announces what happened.  
>"The power blows!"<p>

Suddenly, everything sprang into life. As Dylan went to put his electric guitar away before pulling out his Vintage Gibson Hummingbird. He settled it down on the table while Mitchell sang, voicing his thoughts.

"_How do you document real life when real life is getting more like fiction each day? Headlines, breadlines blow my mind and now this deadline: 'Eviction - or pay',_"he said before sighing.

"Rent!" he then called before pacing the room while Dylan sang his thoughts in reply._  
><em>"_How do you write a song when the chords sound wrong though they once sounded right and rare? When the notes are sour, where is the power you once had to ignite the air?_"  
>Mitchell then barreled towards his roommate.<br>"_And we're hungry and frozen_." He said.  
>"<em>Some life that we've chosen<em>." Dylan replied before they looked to each other.  
>"<em>How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay last year's rent?<em>" they both sang, their voices falling in perfect harmony before Mitchell had a brainwave.  
>"We light candles." He said and they both started to tear off posters from the wall. Dylan then stood on the table as he sang.<br>"_How do you start a fire when there's nothing to burn and it feels like something's stuck in your flue?_" he voiced, throwing now crumpled posters into the stove.  
>"<em>How can you generate heat when you can't feel your feet<em>." Mitchell started while sliding across the table before Dylan joined in with the last words of the sentence: "_And they're turning blue!_"

Dylan then leapt off of the table while throwing more posters into the fire.  
>"<em>You light up a mean blaze<em>." Mitchell sang while Dylan grabs one of his own posters.  
>"<em>With posters-<em>" the blonde sang as Mitchell came up to the stove with old manuscripts in his hands.  
>"<em>And screenplays.<em>" Mitchell sang before they both continuously threw piles of paper into the stove.  
>"<em>How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay last year's rent?<em>"

Meanwhile, down by a payphone in a warehouse type building, a tall tanned girl was on the phone to somebody. She was wearing a long black leather coat, black trousers and heels.  
>"Don't screen, Rachel: it's me – Santana. Your substitute production manager, hey hey hey!" Santana Lopez said before realizing something.<p>

"Did you eat?" she then asked her girlfriend.  
>"<em>Don't change the subject Rachel<em>. But darling - _you haven't eaten all day_. You won't throw up, you won't throw up. The digital delay," Santana said before looking to the jungle of wirse and buttons in front of her.  
>"Didn't blow up (exactly). There may have been one teeny tiny spark." She said before her head popped up.<br>"You're not calling Mitchell!" she then yelled.

Outside a phonebox near the building where Mitchell and Dylan reside, Blaine who was now wearing a white dress shirt with a brown coat sleeve dangling from his right arm stood, almost doubled over.  
>"<em>How do you stay on your feet when on every street it's 'trick or treat' and tonight it's 'trick'. 'Welcome back to town'<em>." Blaine sang before feeling something bubble in his stomach.  
>"Oh, I should lie down. Everything's brown and…uh-oh, I feel sick." He then said, scrunching his face in pain.<br>Mitchell then looked out of the window.  
>"Where is he?" he asked before shrugging and heading back inside. Meanwhile, completely oblivious, Blaine could only voice his pain before collapsing: "Getting dizzy."<p>

"_How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay? How we gonna pay last year's rent?_" the two roommates voiced again before grabbing whatever they could and putting it inside the stove.

Meanwhile, a young man dressed in a black suit, wearing aviator sunglasses stood resting against a black Range Rover.  
>"<em>Millie baby<em> - you sound sad. I don't believe those two after everything I've done. Ever since our wedding I'm dirt - They'll see, I can help them all out in the long run." Jack Harmon voiced before ending the call and singing his unusual worries.  
>"Forces are gathering, forces are gathering. Can't turn away, forces are gathering."<p>

As this was happening, Blaine groaned multiple times while muttering "I can't think" and "I need a drink". Mitchell and Dylan were reading random (and ironic) quotes from the manuscripts Mitchell brought for the stove. Mitchell walked up to it while reading out a quote: "_'The music ignites the night with passionate fire'_."

"Rachel - I'm not a theatre person." Santana tried to reason with her girlfriend.  
>"<em>'The narration crackles and pops with incendiary wit'<em>." Dylan then read out before dropping the manuscript into the blazing fire.  
>"Could never be a theatre person." Santana then voiced, thinking why the hell she ever go to law school.<br>"_Zoom in as they burn the past to the ground._" Mitchell sang before Dylan joined in.  
>"<em>And feel the heat of the future's glow<em>." He sang.

Santana then repeated "Hello?" into the phone, realizing she had been cut off and the phone at the Mason and Armstrong residence rang.  
>"Hello?" Mitchell asked in surprised before his eyebrows raised in surprised.<p>

"Rachel?...Your equipment won't work?" he then said smiling before sighing.  
>"Okay, all right, I'll go!" he then said, slamming the phone down before singing with one half of the building as Dylan frantically searched for more posters.<br>"_How do you leave the past behind when it keeps finding ways to get to your heart? It reaches way down deep and tears you inside out till you're torn apart_." They sang before exclaiming "Rent!" as Dylan and the other half of the building took over as Mitchell took Dylan's place in finding any resources.  
>"<em>How can you connect in an age where strangers, landlords, lovers…your own blood cells betray<em>." They sang before Mitchell and the first half joined in.  
>"<em>What binds the fabric together when the raging, shifting winds of change keep ripping away?<em>" they all sang before the door was then kicked down and a Will Smith via 'Men In Black' impersonator came charging through.  
>"<em>Draw a line in the sand and then make a stand<em>." He sang before Dylan grabbed the camera and tripod, running over to Harmon as he sang: "_Use your camera to spar_!"  
>However, Mitchell grabbed his camera and put it down before grabbing Dylan's guitar.<br>"_Use your guitar_!" he retaliated and Dylan grinned before they all came together.  
>"<em>When they act tough - you call their bluff!<em>" everyone sang before Mitchell and Dylan looked to each other with matching grins._  
><em>"_We're not gonna pay, we're not gonna pay, we're not gonna pay_." They sang as people gradually joined in before they all belted out their final lines.  
>"<em>Last year's rent, this year's rent, next year's rent! Rent, rent, rent, rent, rent! We're not gonna pay rent!"<em>

A spotlight then shone down on Dylan and Mitchell as they carried it home.  
>"<em>Cause everything is rent!<em>"

**0000000000**

Applause rose once again from the auditorium as all of the New Directions stood onstage, all grinning.

"On behalf of Cola-Flavoured-Sherbet, we would like to thank you for supporting, reviewing, favouriting and even taking your own time to read her stories. And because you all are so amazing, we have a surprise for you." Abbey then said.

"Yes, we would like to introduce two new original characters that she will be using in her upcoming stories." Alex said before they all looked to Finn Hudson.

"Drum roll, BFG." Jenn said and Finn ran to the drum kit and did a drum roll before they all turned to the stage.

"Ladies and gentleman…original character number one…Joey Buchanan!" Dylan called and a tall boy with tanned skin, black spiky hair and brown eyes walked out, smirking before standing beside Dylan. He was dressed in a white dress shirt, blue jeans and black Vans.

"Yes, this guy will be in 'Sing Me A Love Song': Cola's upcoming Victorious story. Due out during the Summer." Jenn then said before another drum roll was heard.

"And now…original character number two…Rhys Gardner!" Dylan said and a rather chubby boy with curly dark brown hair and blue eyes came out and stood on the other side of Dylan. He was dressed in a black '30 Seconds To Mars' t-shirt, khaki cargo shorts and black Nike Air sneakers.

"Now this one is special to us…because he will be taking over from me, Jenn and Dylan in the Harmonverse for Cola's Season 4 canon story, due for release near the end of the year." Alex said and Rhys just gave a shy smile and looked down before everyone then looked up and waved to the readers.

"Thanks for reading everyone and keep on watching for more updates coming to you soon." Dylan, Jenn, Alex and Abbey said before everyone applauded as the screen faded to black.

**0000000000**

**Wow, so one year on this god darn website, eh? Not bad.**

**I have to say I have loved my first year on here and I am so glad to be a part of it. I would like to give special thanks to Soulless Warlock, ZeroBen and Gone Rampant for welcoming me into the Harmonverse with open arms and positives reviews for Dylan, Jenn, Alex and Abbey. You guys truly are awesome.**

**Thanks to every single person who has reviewed, favourited, alerted or just read my stories. Seeing that someone has read my work and hasn't left a review saying that it's horrible just makes my day :)**

**Again, thank you so much and here's to an awesome 2nd year!**


End file.
